Short and Sweet
by Nickel Chickadee
Summary: The last six ships that sailed to Valinor sank. The ships' survivors woke up in the 21st century. Five of the ships' survivors found each other. One remains to be found. Charlie, a college freshman is the only way to find the last survivors. The only problem is, she doesn't believe in elves. Rated Teen for suggestive themes. It's not that bad, really.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings, J.R.R Tolkein does. **

It was quiet in the small barroom except for the soft sound of the radio. It was 1:30 pm, so the staff of the bar were all busy getting ready for the night, when people would start coming in. The bar was small and filled with the afternoon sunlight, when evening came, mostly local men or college students from the campus that was nearby would occupy the bar. The bar had a few pool tables, gaming tables, quite a few mini tables, and a stage for entertainment performances. Behind the bar, Erestor worked as the bartender, while Glorfindel and Thranduil cleared and served tables. Aglardor, son of Thranduil, would usually play his guitar onstage while Elladen and Elrohir sang to the tune of Rùmil's song. Meanwhile, Lossenith, sister of Haldir, would dance the choreography that Orophim had made for her and the song, while an eager Midthor, the youngest of Thranduil's children, who was still a student at the nearby college, would help in any way he could.

Currently, only Erestor, Glorfindel, and Thranduil were present when a young girl, probably a college freshman, walked in. The three elven lords turned bar staff members looked up from their work. When they did, Erestor almost dropped the bottle he was cleaning. The girl in question's features all looked so, so elven. Her hair was a soft, ginger color except where she had dyed it in bright pink and purple shades. Her wavy hair was loose behind her and came down to her shoulders. She had pale skin and a beautiful complexion. Her makeup was well done, but she obviously didn't need it. She had about three piercings in her right ear, and one in her left. To all three elves' shock, her ears were long and almost, pointed? Yes, her ears came to points at the ends. She was tall, but not to tall, as well as very skinny. She either didn't notice or ignored Erestor's reaction as she spoke up.

"Um…hi, yeah, I know you're closed and all but I was wondering if you could just help me with something," she inquired in a bright manner.

"What is it?" Erestor asked.

"Yeah, um, do you know where building E-64 might be?" she asked, holding up a detailed map of the college campus that was right next to the bar. This confirmed the thought that she was a college freshman. Many freshmen who got lost often dropped by to ask for directions as the bar was practically on campus.

Glorfindel smiled at the young lady and replied, "You're in the wrong building, E-64 is two buildings down on the right,"

The girl's face brightened, "Thanks! I was just wondering, I have that class in an hour, and I couldn't find it. I'm a freshman, obviously," she said. When she finished speaking she couldn't help but side step down the three wooden steps leading from the door into the bar, looking around.

"Wow, this place is nice," she remarked.

Glorfindel smiled and thanked her for her compliment.

"Are you coming here tonight?" he questioned.

The young lady looked to him and nodded, "Yeah, I have a couple friends that have been here a while, well longer than me, and they said it was tradition to bring freshman to this bar as a welcoming sign," she explained.

Glorfindel nodded in understanding.

"Well, I better be going," the girl said as she turned and walked back up the steps, her heels making hollow sounds as she reached the door frame.

Before she could leave, Thranduil called out, "What is your name?"

Without turning around, the girl answered, "Name's Charlie!" and exited the building.

The moment Charlie passed out of sight, the three elves sighed to themselves. In the long time they had been in Earth, they had come across many human maidens that resembled elf maidens, and each one brought them heartache, yearning for the presence of their own kind.

"Another one, and she's a freshman," Erestor sighed.

Glorfindel shook his head, "You both make it much to awkward. No matter what they resemble, we must treat them all the same,"

Thranduil was still frowning. Of all the elf maiden look a likes, this was the most severe ones. "This one was different," he stated.

This caught the attention of his two friends.

"Do you mean to say that she looked of Mirkwood elf maidens?" Erestor asked, curiously. He too had to admit that there was something different about this specific maiden. She walked with elven grace, to start.

"Her ears are pointed," blurted Thranduil, not wishing to keep the discovery to himself.

This time, Erestor really did shatter the bottle he was cleaning.

"Did you not see?" pressed Thranduil.

There was a tense silence that was interrupted when Glorfindel clapped his hands together and spoke.

"There is no time to brood over this. She will return tonight, for the freshman party, and when she does you can fools can go brood some more, but now we must prepare for the party, else we lose our reputation and our boss goes mad," he interrupted in a cheery tone, despite his conflicting emotions. He had to admit, the maiden had surprised him as well.

Long ago, six ships sailing to Valinor had been caught up in a storm, and their passengers all sunk to the bottom of the sea. They would've been dead, but the Valar had hope for them and simply put them in a deep sleep. When they woke up, they were tasked with finding each other. Only once they had all found each other, could they leave.

An hour before the party, the two sons of Elrond, as well as the three siblings of Haldir arrived at the bar, along with Midthor and Aglardor.

"What is the matter, Ada?" Midthor asked, knowing his father was acting strangely.

Erestor looked away, uncomfortably, while Glorfindel coughed awkwardly.

"It is nothing, ion," the former king of Mirkwood answered, just as the first guests began to enter.

As the party was in full swing, Charlie was finally spotted entering. Glorfindel greeted her kindly as she and her friend sat down.

As Glorfindel set their orders down at the table, he was about to leave when, to his delight, one of the girls invited him to sit.

"That guitar player is really hot," hinted Charlie's friend, the moment Glorfindel sat.

Glorfindel smiled and pointed over at Thranduil who was taking the orders of a couple a few tables to their left. "That guitar player is his son," he informed.

Charlie's eyebrows shot up and her friend, Natalie's jaw dropped.

"Well, I know where he got the looks from, God, I thought that was a waitress, with the long gold hair and all," she babbled.

Glorfindel nodded, "You did not mistake me for a woman, I take it?" he asked for he too had long blonde hair.

Natalie shook her head, "Naw, you're too manly looking," she said.

Glorfindel laughed before excusing himself to help another customer.

When he was gone, Natalie turned to Charlie. "Didn't I tell you the staff of this place were all gorgeous?" she said with a smile.

Charlie rolled her eyes. "If you like him so much, why don't you talk to him?" she dared, pointing toward the guitar player.

"Fine," Natalie answered levelly.

When the band player had finished, Natalie watched as he walked off the stage and approached his father. The two watched as the father gave the guitar player a pat on the shoulder before returning to work. Natalie, seizing her chance, quickly caught the performer's eye and waved him over.

"Hey!" she chirped as he sat down in Glorfindel's empty seat.

"Hello," he answered, clearly bored.

"A little bird told me that, that," she pointed to Thranduil, "…Was your father,"

Ignoring her sweet talk, Aglardor cut to the chase, "What do you want?" he asked bitterly.

Charlie choked on her drink at his rudeness, but Natalie slapped her on the back and seemed unfazed.

"I was just wondering, you and your dad look so…nice, I was just thinking, do you have any other siblings that are…noteworthy?" she asked with a voice that seemed like it was made of sugar.

Charlie had a coughing fit at her friend's comment. Natalie shot a glare at Charlie and slapped her on the back. For the first time, Aglardor turned to look at Charlie. When he did, he nearly fell out of his chair. Her entire features all screamed elf in his brain. Recovering quickly he remembered Natalie's question. He normally lied about these things, but in such an elven looking human's presence, he felt strangely compelled to tell the truth.

Wearily he answered truthfully, "I had a younger brother, and two younger sisters, but they all went missing years ago. I only have one little brother now, over there," he pointed to Midthor.

"He goes to your school, he's a junior, and single. If you're looking for a boyfriend or a man that will be sweet to you, go bother him, or better yet, the twins up there," he said with a little humor.

Natalie, who couldn't take a hint rested her chin in her hand and drawled, "Why don't you tell me about the staff here?"

Once again, as if looking at Ànthel, Aglardor gave in to Charlie's interested eyes and told the truth.

"The dancing girl over there is my cousin, Lilly. The twins up on the stage next to her are Edward and Eric. Those two over there, are Randy and Orion, Lilly's brothers. You know my dad, his name is Taylor. My little brother I told you about is the one sitting at the bar, on his phone. Yeah, his name is Michael. The bartender is Edmund, and the other server, the one who spoke with you earlier and pointed out my dad, yeah his name Gabe, but everyone calls him the Grinch. Oh and by the way, my name's Adam," he finished.

Charlie laughed and Natalie nodded as 'Adam' walked over to the bar.

"God their all so gorgeous," Natalie commented. Charlie rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but feel the voice in the back of her mind call to her.

They are not telling the truth. They are lying about everything. They are just like your father. They are elv- Charlie groaned, cutting off the voice in her head.

"You okay?" Natalie asked.

"Just give me a moment, I got a headache," Charlie muttered as she got up and headed toward the bar, looking for directions, once more. Her head was screaming and all of her buried fears and conflicts from her childhood began to reappear in her mind. She had gone into severe counseling for her anxiety problems that led to panic attacks when she was very young. So young that her mother had still been living then. She had finally been allowed to stop taking the pills, but now that her anxiety was starting to return, she wished that she had it with her. She stumbled blindly through a crowd of freshman, then colliding directly with one of the servers. Luckily, he didn't fall, but he did drop the tray he was holding. It was not uncommon to see drunk students collide with others, so it went unnoticed. Thranduil grabbed Charlie by her two slender arms in an attempt to steady her.

"Let me help you out, it's much better outside," he suggested, concerned for the elven like girl.

"'Kay," Charlie barely managed to say through her groans from her headache.

When the two got outside, Charlie collapsed.

"Are you all right?" Thranduil asked as he kneeled by in front of her and looked her in the eye.

Unlike any of the other human maidens, Charlie didn't blush, giggle or look away. She just stared back at him, as if she was used to looking upon elven like faces.

"I'm fine now, I just," she took a breath to calm her shaking self. "I thought I had it under control, but the anxiety keeps coming back,"

Thranduil frowned but pretended to understand. "I need to return to the party, would you like to wait here with you until you rejoin?" he questioned.

"I think I'll rejoin a little later," she replied tiredly.

Thranduil, a bit surprised at her answer, accepted nonetheless and walked back into the bar room without another word.

As the bar finally closed for the night, or morning, whatever time it was, the elves that remained began cleaning up after the guests who had just left. They were unsurprised when they heard the door to the entrance open, as many guests had left possessions behind, but they were very surprised when Charlie walked in.

"Hey," she said awkwardly, eyeing each one in turn.

"Ah, Charlie! What do you require?" inquired Glorfindel who had looked up from wiping down a table.

Feeling a bit more relaxed at seeing a familiar face, Charlie relaxed.

"Yeah, I think I left my phone behind here," she admitted. "It's an IPhone, one of the old versions, though. It kinda has no battery, so I can't call it. I just wanted to give you a head's up, so that if you find it, here's the charger, just call Natalie's phone," she passed a small strip of numbered paper charger to Elladen, who was the nearest, before waving at Midthor, her classmate in biology.

"See you in biology, sorry for all the trouble," she thanked them once more before leaving out the door.

When she did, all elves, save for Glorfindel, Thranduil and Erestor looked around in shock.

"She looks so…" Elladen started.

"Like one of us?" Thranduil interrupted bitterly.

Elladen frowned, "No, she looks so much like Ànthel,"

Thranduil froze and took a seat, while his other staff members went back to work.

A half hour later, Elrohir cried, "I found her phone!" from under a table he was sweeping. Straightening, he tried to turn it on and found that it still had a little battery left.

"Good, the number to call is-," but Elladen broke off as he watched his brother's mouth open in shock.

In an instant all the other people in the room crowded him. With a shaky hand, Elrohir turned the phone on again.

They all gasped, Charlie's home screen was a photo she had taken. It was a photo of her, when she was about four, sleeping in the arms of none other than Ànthel.

"Ànthel," Thranduil murmured running a finger through his long blonde hair.

"How is this possible?" asked Midthor who had distant but comforting memories of his elder sister.

"I knew it! I knew she looked like Ànthel!" cried Elladen, trying to keep up an enthusiastic tone to mask his shock.

"I don't want to do this but, we have to know. Look through her phone for any more clues," Glorfindel said.

Elrohir eyed him skeptically but did as he was told. He unlocked the screen and clicked on her photo gallery. Seeing no pictures, but not losing hope, he found her instagram and clicked on her profile. Bingo. Her account had 2.7k followers, and she was following 1.2k people. She was obviously popular and well connected. Her account though, was not what Elrohir was searching for. He was looking for photos, and photos he found. There were about 600 photos on her account. He looked to his friends, unsure of whether or not to proceed. After receiving a small nod from Aglardor, he began scrolling down the pictures, looking for anything noteworthy. Finally, he found what he was looking for. He had been scrolling for quite awhile before he found the section where Charlie had posted photos that were the closest clue to the elves.

The first photo was a drawing of an elf maiden, which only the elves knew, weeping tears that became a river.

"Nimrodel," breathed Midthor. The legend of the weeping lady was a very significant part of elven culture.

"What does the caption say?" Thranduil asked.

Elrohir looked to the caption and read, "It says, 'this a beautiful drawing by my awesome aunt, Anna. My other aunt says that it's a picture of a lady who kept on crying until her tears made a river. That reminds me! I have Homework for Social St. We're studying Egypt, big surprise. I just wanted to post it because it was my mom's favorite',"

There was a silence.

"What do we do now?" asked Elrohir.

"We give her the phone back," replied Erestor, and Glorfindel nodded in agreement.

.

A couple months after the party, all the staff from the party and the only elves on Earth to their knowledge, waited in Erestor and Glorfindel's living room apartment. What were they waiting for? Charlie. There had been an accident in the main room of the college buildings and school was to be closed for the rest of the year. Now the students that lived in the dorms, still had access to the dorms but had no way to make money and quickly lost their dorm 'privileges'. Bunch of bullshit, Rùmil had said when they had heard of the now homeless students. Of all the homeless, the elves were quick to offer Charlie a home, all they were waiting for was for her arrival. A knock and a cheerful 'come in' from Elladen alerted the group to Charlie's presence.

Charlie sat down on an empty cushion while Aglardor entered with sandwiches.

"We've just kept on running into each other, but we've never gotten to know you, Charlie," started Glorfindel.

Charlie nodded slowly, where was he going?

"We just wanted to know more about you, let you know more about us, so that you'd feel welcome here," he continued.

Charlie smiled brightly, "Thank you for kindness," and so, a conversation began. Nearly twenty minutes later, they got into the very sensitive topic of past.

"So what's your family like?" asked Elrohir, who had grown very fond of the outspoken young girl.

Charlie sucked in her breath, but seeing the concern on her friend's face she gave him a tight smile. "It's nothing, I just, my family is," she bit her lip, unable to speak.

Rùmil, or Randy raised an eyebrow. "What is it about your family?" he inquired.

Orophim joined in, "Yes, do tell," he pressed.

Lossenith did not join but nodded in agreement.

Finally, Charlie gave up, "I came here so I wouldn't be a burden to my family," she admitted,"

"Why?" asked Lossenith bluntly.

Charlie shot her a glare, "Because, we live in a big city, there are five of us living in a three bedroom apartment, and we're dirt poor,"

This didn't silence Lossenith a bit, but put even more gasoline to her burning curiosity.

"Oh? Care to explain about _your _family after _we've shared about ours_?" she pushed.

Glorfindel shot her a warning look, but was inwardly thankful for Lossenith's bluntness.

If looks could kill, Lossenith would already be making her merry way to Mandos after Charlie shot her a deadly glare.

"My aunt's a painter, and my other aunt's a writer. My writer aunt was fired from her job at the newspaper and my other aunt is taking medication for depression and her drawings don't sell. My father's girlfriend, our landlady, also lives with us, but my father doesn't actually like her. He's too busy being busy, stressed and depressed now that my mom's dead, even though she's been dead for forever," she spat.

"Anything noteworthy about your family members?" Lossenith had begun examining her polished nails, but continued in her bored tone.

This time, Thranduil voiced his unease by warning the sister of Rùmil and Orophim. "Lilly!"

"No, that's all right," interrupted Charlie. "You guys have already told me about your families, the ups and downs, so I guess as your new friend, I should do the same," she suggested before taking a breather to calm down and began again.

"There is nothing noteworthy about my family. We immigrated here from England when I was two. I never knew my older brother, he was long dead by the time I was born. My mother was sick and for my entire memory she was always in bed, either sleeping, crying or begging my father to kill her. There's nothing special about Dad, he's just a guy who get's pushed around and harassed because he's pretty, like as in a girl pretty. He was always worrying about my mother, and I don't remember a time when he was genuinely happy. My older aunt, when she lost her job and couldn't regain one, she just took over the jobs in the house that a mother would do. My dad's always busy now, trying to make enough money to keep us from getting kicked out onto the streets. After my mom's death, my dad never came out of his room or had time for me, so I looked to my aunts. My older aunt, Betty, was always stressed out and too busy to look after me, my younger aunt, Anna, she went into depression after Mom's passing. She was always close to mom, apparently. My dad got a girlfriend, our landlady, who is a professional dancer, but I never really liked her as a mother, so I never went home," Her voice cracked and Charlie began crying softly.

"I didn't want to carry the stress of my family with me, so I wouldn't come home as much as possible. Dad would usually stay at work for days on end, without sleep, trying to satisfy that son of a bitch who is his boss. At home, without a job, Betty would never sleep while Dad was gone, because she was worried about him, we all know that Dad was really pretty for a guy, and because of that his other co workers and boss…harassed him. Betty would sometimes to Dad's work to 'check on him', and find him in the arms of a coworker who wanted to do…things with him. To watch Dad, my rock, my….hero, have to put up with and go through all of that to make sure I got what I wanted, something inside me died every time he didn't come home. Then Betty, she would always overwork herself and stress herself out, usually it ended up in her screaming and yelling at me. Anna was so depressed that she was always in a different world. She would talk in a weird language and wander through our house as if she had lost her mind. I was so scared, I still I am, because she is doing the exact same things mom did. Mom would lie on the small mattress in Anna's room, speaking in a weird language, murmuring names of unknown people, calling out to people in her mind, and going insane. She died right in front of my eyes," Charlie broke down in a fountain of tears, but no one had the heart to comfort her.

"Charlie, tell me about your dad," commanded a very alarmed Erestor.

Charlie's head snapped up and she yelled at the brown haired elf. "What? What is it you all want to know? My dad is nothing! He has long blonde hair, he has a weird 20/20 vision and can hear me talking to myself in the other end of the house. He has blue eyes that creep me out and he's not tall but not short. He keeps to himself and I keep to me. He's just as insane as my mother," she sobbed.

"How, how so?" Thranduil interrupted alarmed. Blonde hair? 20/20 vision? Amazing hearing? Blue eyes? A mental picture of his son kept flashing in his mind.

Charlie whipped her head to glare at Thranduil. Thranduil was genuinely surprised when she glared, a glare that Thranduil was infamous for pulling off. How could this girl…?

"He thinks we're all bloody elves! HE BELIEVES IN ELVES! HE THINKS THAT HE'S AN ELF, THAT MY MOM WAS AN ELF, THAT MY AUNT WAS AN ELF, HE THINKS _I'M _A BLOODY ELF! HE'S FUCKING CRAZY!" she screamed at him.

This was what they had wanted to hear.

"That's because you are, Charlie!" yelled Glorfindel from beside her.

Charlie's mouth fell open.

"Stop it, not you too," she pleaded. "Don't do this to me,"

Glorfindel shot her a glare before pushing his hair behind his ears, revealing two very long, pointy ears.

Charlie's mouth fell open. "I don't believe in…" she trailed off.

"What is your father's name?" Aglardor asked, breathless. _Dare he believe that this elleth was his niece?_

Recovering slightly, she replied in a shaky voice, "Lamont," seeing the raised eyebrows she whispered, "It's an English name, we lived in England,"

Thranduil shook his head, "That is not what I meant, penneth. What did he say his real name was?"

Charlie gasped, "Only my mother and dad ever called me that, penneth I mean, it was part of their crazy language, but if you know it then, it is true?" she wondered in awe.

Thranduil nodded, but his look prompted her to answer.

"Oh, yes well. His name, I think it was, something to do with Legos®, really odd, legless? No, that's not it, really odd, OH! LEGOLAS! And mother's name was TÀRI! Auntie's name was BERENITH, YES, I REMEMBER, ANNA'S NAME TURNED TO ÀNTHEL, YEAH!" she cried, unsure why she was so happy.

Thranduil on the other hand began shaking and turned white.

"Are you all right?" she asked, she reached out to steady him but he caught her by her two wrists and looked into her eyes deeply.

"How did I fail to see it before?" he wondered aloud.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"My son, Legolas, his wife Tàri, and my two daughters, Berenith and Ànthel all went missing years ago," he murmured.

Charlie's eye's nearly popped out of her head. "You don't mean to say that you're my…?"

"Granddad?" supplied Elladen from the side.

"Granddad," Charlie said, frowning, it didn't sound right though.

Thranduil shook his head, "Daer Adar," he corrected.

Charlie repeated the word, 'daer adar' she knew what it meant, she did not need to be told. Charlie soon began to nod as she repeated the words over and over again. As she was bursting with happiness, she drew her grandfather into a big hug.

"Daer Adar," she whispered through the tangle of their hair.

"Daer Iell," he replied back through the sound of her sobs.

.

Legolas wished he could sink through the hard, unyielding table that he had been pushed onto. His boss was approaching him, and he was in a drunk mood.

"Boss…" he tried, but the adan was long past words.

"Come on now, Lamont, I've taken you under my wing for years now, and now that daughter of yours is gone, how about we have ourselves a little fun…eh?"

Legolas exhaled. His boss was right, Charlie was gone. But that meant that he didn't _need _his job here. Granted, without the money the job payed, his family would probably fall into debt the moment rent was due, but still, he couldn't put up with these acts anymore. He had been kissed, hugged and bitten, but he wasn't willing to see how far his boss and 'coworkers' would go. Making up his mind, he kicked his_former_boss savagely in the shin.

"I quit," he muttered before dropping the stack of papers he had been holding onto his shocked boss.

With that he stalked out the door. As he walked out of the building, and he began wondering what to do with his life, his cell phone rang. It was an old flip phone, but he wasn't bothered by it's age or quality. As long as it made and received calls, he was happy. Besides, now more than ever, he didn't have the money to get a new cell, or a new house, or new clothes, or new anything. Heck, if he received a dollar every day he had gone without eating, he would be a millionaire. Sighing to himself he flipped open the phone and read the ID. Charlie! He hadn't heard from her since she had left! He quickly hit the green 'receive call' button on his phone and put it to his pointed ear.

"Hello?" he called hesitantly.

"Ada?" Charlie answered, just as nervous.

Legolas nearly dropped his phone. What had she just called him? They both new that she though he was insane for the whole elf concept that he had informed her about, and he had accepted his daughter's views long ago, so why now? Why was she calling him in their native tongue, now? After all the years?

"Ada?" she called again, after the period of silence.

"Charlie," he whispered back.

"What do you want?" he asked, all of a sudden weary. If she was using their language just to get what she wanted he swore he would-

"Ada where are you? I've picked up Berenith and Ànthel, where are you?" she inquired with a shaky voice.

Legolas bit his lip and focused on listening to the sounds on the other end of the phone. She was not doing this because she wanted another phone or the latest fashion jacket.

"You are not alone," he stated.

Charlie let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I picked up Berenith and Ànthel,"

"No, there are others, many others," he pressed.

Charlie sighed, giving up. The next time a voice was heard from the phone, Legolas really did drop the ancient device.

"Ion, manka na lle?" (Where are you)?" Thranduil asked as if nothing was wrong.

A few heads turned at the sight of a young man standing completely still, mouth open in shock. Legolas knelt down to pick up his phone, but when he straightened, he saw a black Sudan pulling up to the side walk before him. When he saw Aglardor, Midthor and Thranduil step out of the car, he ran like a lost elfling and grabbed them all into a huge hug. Thranduil smiled through tears and began patting his son's back to try and comfort him. His son was lost and found. His hope had been lost and found.

"Don't worry ion, we're going home now," he whispered. Now that they had all found each other, they could leave Earth forever. They could finally leave to Valinor.

From behind, Charlie smiled a small smile, her father was happy. Genuinely happy, for the first time in her life. _Are you watching us, nana? Do you see us, Mom? _She wondered, and as if to answer her, a lamppost above them lit up.

Beside her, Elladen smiled, "A light for an answer, and a lamppost for the time we have spent on this Earth," he noted.

Charlie nodded in agreement as she and her entire family loaded into the car and drove off, happily ever after.


End file.
